Economic analysts have warned that the suspension of Nigeria’s 2025 Digital Consumer Lending Regulations could undermine the country’s ambition to become Africa’s leading fintech hub.
The Africa Digital Economy Observatory (ADEO) has said in a recent statement that the decision risks delaying the much-needed consumer protections and discouraging responsible capital inflows into Nigeria’s fast-growing digital finance sector.
“Institutional investors prefer regulated environments,” said ADEO Lead Analyst, Tunde Alao.
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“Countries that delayed digital lending reforms, such as Indonesia in the early 2010s, paid the price in consumer backlash and regulatory crackdowns,” Alao said.
ADEO highlighted that Nigeria’s current lending ecosystem disproportionately favours large telcos and airtime-based platforms, whose scale allows them to operate with minimal transparency. The group urged lawmakers to consider international best practices where regulation was used as a growth enabler rather than a barrier.
“The question is not whether to regulate digital lending, but who the regulation should protect. In my opinion, we must protect the local economy over dominant intermediaries and giant telcos,” Okafor concluded.
